Debbie's Birthday Update
Dear Fod's,
Thank you for all of the cards and well wishes that have been pouring into Debbie over the past few days to celebrate her birthday. She has received more cards this year than she has in the past three -- but not that she doesn't deserve them!
Deb's chemo has continued to work within her and today she hit a low point. She had 0 WBC and a platlate count of 1. If you can get lower than that, we have never seen it. We were scheduled to be in HUP today anyway, but it was probably a day or two late. Debbie was not feeling well before we left this morning and now we know there were very good reasons. We will need to increase the home visits and get her blood tested more frequently.
They had typed and cross matched Debbie on Monday during our platlate visit so they were ready for her when we arrived today. She received platlates and 2 units of blood and was feeling better, but very, very tired. We were there for about 5 hours today.
When we arrived home, she went straight to bed and has been resting. She had some bean with bacon soup for dinner and will be sleeping early tonight. Hopefully, her counts will start to climb and she will regain her immune system. We go back to visit with Dr. Oz on Monday and will learn what they next have in store for Debbie.
We will keep you posted after our visit on Monday. Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers for Debbie.
Deb sends her love to all.
posted by Joe @ 7:00 PM
24 Comments:
Mrs Teklits,
Hope you feel atleast a little bit better for your birthday tomorrow!!!... I was hoping maybe stuff wouldnt get so yucky this time ! :( .... I have some goodies for you that I was planning on giving you at my weekend visit, but I am not sure if I will be visiting this weekend-- But know they are on there way!!!! I just want to wish you a Very Happy Birthday in case I do not see or speak to you. You are the most wonderful person, and deserve a good birthday and an even better year.. Keep strong through this rough time. Keep thoughts of Emma and Christian in your mind, you will be visiting with them soon!!!!!! Can't wait to see you.
Love Always,
Alli
ps- Karenann & the girls send their love and birthday wishes too!!!
Happy Birthday, Aunt Debbie!
I'm sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well and hope you'll have more energy by tomorrow. I don't know about that bean soup...it sounds like one of Grammy's concoctions like her navy bean soup. Blah! (No offense, Gram, but you know I can't stand that stuff!) I think you need some more eggplant parmesan and birthday cake! Have a great birthday and I'll check back on Monday for an update.
Lisa
Dear Deb,
Here's hoping for a quick rise in you counts. Take care of yourself. Think of you everyday. Happy Birthday.
Love and hugs,
jean
Debbie,
Sorry to hear about your counts... but on the bright side I bet you've been getting tons and tons of birthday goodies and cake! YUM! Hope your rash is doing better, too. Well I'm going over to Reen & Uncle Bobs tomorrow night to watch the Villanova game so I'm sure I will hear how well your birthday went!
xoxoMeg Noon
Debbie
Feliz Cumpleaños a Honduras. It´s Friday and we are on our 2 night R&R after the mission. Today was the first hot shower in a week and my first look in a mirror. YIKES! I was anxious to get into the internet to see of your progress and glad to see that you are doing well despite the fatigue and all that goes with the chemo. As you might expect I thought of you often and actually thought how much you would enjoy the experiences of the past week. All in all our team saw over 2700 pacientes in 6 days. Between eyes, medicine, dentristy and Paps. The people of course were waiting when we got there in the hot sun. Most had walked miles over mountains. I will have to tell you more when we get back to the states. Mere has had a great time. We brought Mayra and her sister Fabiola here with us for the two day stay. Today Dave and I are headed to the ruins which I have already been to but he likes all that history and I think he will like this. Mere wants to swim but right now it is raining. We arrived here late yesterday and had dinner and off to the center city which is quaint and watched NCAA bball. Yippee...Duke lost. There has to be some justice when Kentucky is out of the tournament so early. Good News for Matthew and Bad for Mickey as WVA got beat at the last minute by Texas. We leave tomorrow morning at 7:30 am for a 3 hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula and arrive home in St. Louis around 11 PM. It will be a long day but I miss my boys and need to get back to my routine.
I am thrilled to see that you are "OK". I was so worried that you would have been struggling while I was incommunicado.
I will call you early next week. Love to everyone in Lansdale. Miss you bunches. COD Eileen :)
Debby & Joe,
Happy Birthday!! We were delighted to read the new posting, & the counts are unbelievably low. Let's hope that the HUP knows how best to get such counts to begin climbing asap. It must be difficult to continue going back to the HUP;let's hope that you get better soon & can "forget about" more visits down there. Hopefully, some warm thoughts about Emma & Christian will brighten your birth day!!. Love, Mom & Dad
Dear Deb and Joe
I know you predicted a kinda bad week,so we don't exspect you to blow all those candles out. Your susposed to laugh.
Anyway I've been thinking about you and praying for you .
Lotsa of Love BIG HUGS
Your Aunt Angie
Deb,
Happy Birthday! I hope your counts are back up soon and you're feeling better. Get your rest this weekend and good luck with your Monday appointment.
Love,
Jeanne
Debbie:
Belated Happy Birthday and hope your counts are back to normal soon! Keep thinking happy thoughts of those grandchildren!
Carolyn Stuart
Hi Debbie,
Hope those counts start coming up for you. We have been thinking about you and can't wait to come down for another visit. We really enjoyed the stay. We wish you a belated Happy Birthday and also congratulations on you new baby Grandaughter. Can't wait to see pictures!
LOL,
Lisa, Shirley, Eddy, Aunt Rosie and Rosemarie
Hay Deb, Happy Belated Birthday! Hope that you are feeling better each day and that your counts are on their way back up. Would love to hear how Jesse and Emma are doing. I have been plagued with a cold for about 3 weeks now. Am on the mend now though. Have a good trip to HUP on monday and will wait for the good news about the visit. Love Cathy and Artie
Dear Deb, My Dear,
I was out in San Diego again this past week and was anxious to get home to read the blog to get an update on you and to hear from all the other FOD's! Happy Birthday! We're praying that this coming year is much happier and healthier.
I don't know - I love Bean soup!
Take care and most of all rest so those counts come back up!
Love to you and Joe,
Barb
Hi Honey-
What a gift it was to spend time together on your birthday. Hope you are feeling better now.
Arrived safe and sound in London and we are thinking of you, Chizzie. Glad to see that the bean with bacon soup is giving you some nourishment and hope that your mouth is feeling better by now.
Cousin Eileen - the work you are doing is fascinating and you are to be commended for being such a good soul.
Mo - Know that you and Bob are in our prayers.
Debbie - check your email.
Feeling a little jet lagged now but wanted to check in and let you know that I love you and love all the FOD's too.
Cheers - K
Mrs Teklits,
Heyy!!! I spoke to Mr. T yesterday and he said you were starting to feel a little better! That is great, hopefully soon enough you can get down to DC and see your grandbabies!!! Good luck today at HUP! I will talk to you soon..
Love Always
Alli
OKAY, i forgot your birthday(knew it was coming up also) and i call myself a FOD!. Sure it wasnt' as pleasant as some in the past.. are the counts now coming up?? Were you away for awhile? I think whoever had the idea of you being "taught" to answer the blogs was a great idea.. it only takes a few minutes, Deb, and not only would it keep your phone bill down, it would be so nice for us who are randomly asking questions to cyberspace! ha.
Anyway,hope you are doing well, even though i have been AWOL from here,i have still been thinking about you, take care deb.love,,mdf
Dear FODs,
With Debs' permission, I wanted to tell you about what's happening to my husband Bob and myself. Bob has been receiving treatment for the past 2 years for a disease called myelodysplasia syndrome. This is a bone marrow disease which is characterized by low white and red blood cells, as well as lowered platelets. He has had various infections and bleeding problems thrown at him, as a result. Now the MDS has changed into AML. Yes, freaky isn't it? My husband and my best friend having the same disease, at the same time...bizarre to say the least. We were made aware at the onset that this was a possibility. It is the natural course that MDS follows. Of course it is still a shock to the system when it happens, and now we will truly be living Debs' journey. Bob is scheduled for admission to HUP this Wednesday morning. We will meet w/ our hem/onc. Dr. Selena Luger who has been treating Bob from the beginning and who is also a partner of Dr. Porter.
Now, the true reason for being here, aside of course from asking you all to remember Bob in your prayers, is to post the address for Bobs' blog. I just created it today, and if I do say so,am quite proud of myself. Our friend Dee has already posted a comment, so I know it's actually working. I have e-mailed it to several people already, but I know there are some of the old NPH gang on here whose e-mails I don't have. And of course I would be thrilled to hear from any of the FOD gang. I feel a connection there, despite the fact that we all haven't met face to face. Anyway the address is:
http://drbobsadventure.blogspot.com/
I hope that works.I just learned how to cut and paste(pathetic, I know).If it doesn't my e-mail is
mobobmaz@msn.com. Write to me and I can forward the address.
Again, please remember Bob and I in your prayers. We are holding fast to the image of Debs' miraculous remission, and are hopeful for the same success.
Love, Mo
Hey Chizzie-
Greetings from Manchester... arrived this morning from London via train. You would have loved the ride, honey. The countryside was beautiful with lots of quaint country cottages and manor houses. And how about those hedgerows? I don't know whose idea those were but they sure make the fields look all neat and orderly for the sheep and their baby lambs...awww, they are so cute. Also interesting were the canal barges slowly motoring down the canals that criss-crossed the countryside. (Thinking of Manayunk here, Mr. Joe) No wild turkeys to be found, but I did see a couple of ring-necked pheasants - you know my thing about birds.
London was swell as always. Did lots of windowshopping and had tea at the Dorchester (thought about you the whole time!) Mr. Marvin just left for his meetings and so I guess I'll go do a little walkabout.
It's off to Dublin tomorrow.
The jet lag has been WICKED...
Glad to hear (via Alli) that you are starting to come around and feel better. I've been thinking about you, sweetie.
Love ya - K
Happy Belated Birthday - Hope your count increases soon and you are feeling better again real soon. I know you will, you are strong and that has helped you through all this. Keep the faith. We are still praying for you. Shelly and Gary
Good morning Deb,
Just a quick note to let you know that I'm still thinking about you.
Hoping that this finds you with counts rising!! I know you'll be feeling more like yourself soon.
Love, Kim
Hi Chiz -
Hope this finds you doing well and out of the 'crash zone' after your latest round of consolidation chemo. Been thinking about you like crazy, kiddo.
We arrived early yesterday morning here in Dublin and have been on the go-go-go since; Mr. Hal with his meetings and me with my sightseeing and windowshopping. Because I don't have much time here I opted to take one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours to catch the highlights. The highlights are many, too. The Guiness brewery, the Jameson Distillery, Phoenix Park, St. Stephens Green, the Liffey river etc. Today I'll kick back and do a walkabout before heading out to dinner with Mr. Hal's business associates.
Today's mission: find the hotel that Bono recently bought and refurbished. It's supposed to be quite nice and I hope to grab a cup of tea in the lobby and write some postcards. Maybe even sneak a peek at Bono? It's where he stays when he is town and according to the newspaper he is here for a Samuel Beckett festival. Look out Bono, here I come!
Needless to say, we're having a great time. (Especially since I got a full night's sleep for the first time since leaving NJ. Jetlag is NOT my friend. I think I'd had about 6 hrs since I left home.)
Hope you are sleeping better and that you aren't still having a bad case of 'chemolag'.
I love you honey - K
Debbie
Hope you are feeling better soon. Isn't it great to celebrate another birthday. Congratulations and best wishes.
Kathy Gaffney
Good morning Deb,
Spoke with Jeff Eustace yesterday, he sends his love and prayers. You are now an official computer geek. I saw that you were able to get onto Bob's blog. I am proud of you. Hope all is well with you. Tried to get in touch yesterday, will try again.
love,
jean
Hi Debbie,
wishing you continued recovery. I came across your blog while visiting my sister-in-law @ HUP. Our thoughts are with all who fight hard to regain health.
Regards & best wishes, alison.
Debbie,
Many wishes for continued healing. I came across your blog while using the computer at HUP. My sister-in-law is here.
Best wishes
Alison
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